Aishiteru
by Painted Purple Stars
Summary: Roxas has lost everything. His parents, his house, his possessions. While staying at a park, the unfriendly Axel takes a liking to him. Full summary inside. Akuroku
1. Chapter 1

Aishiteru

Summary: Roxas has lost everything. His parents, his house, his possessions. While staying at a park, the unfriendly Axel takes a liking to him and decides to allow him to stay at his apartment. Little did he know that he and Roxas were going to discover more about each other and possibly change his ways.

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts.

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Chapter I

_"Roxas?"_Roxas's eyes opened. He looked around and saw that it was barely sunrise and he was lying on a bench near the playground at the park he was staying at. Reality was coming back to him. He was homeless. You'd think he would've gone to an orphanage, but he didn't want to be in one. He was fifteen and felt too old. No one would adopt him anyway because people generally go for the younger kids. If not an orphanage though, you'd think maybe a tent, but he had no money. Stay at a friend's house? That wasn't possible. He couldn't stay with Hayner, Pence, or Olette, he didn't want to. He's seen their lives, and to be living with them, it'd just be too weird. Since the fire, Roxas lost everything but the clothes on his back. He had no money and because of this, he had to drop out of school to find a job, though he has been unsuccessful.

"Y-yes?"

"I'm afraid we have some bad news. Your parents didn't survive the fire."

These days he always seemed to be waking up from the same nightmare ending; the doctors telling him his parents didn't survive. He didn't understand any of it. How they could possibly gone, how the fire even started. He couldn't accept either, though he knew he had to. They say the fire was an accident but they were still investigating.

It was so unexpected. One minute Roxas was living life, hanging out with friends, doing well in school, his parents were still together, and then a fire took away everything. He wouldn't say his life was perfect, it was far from it, but he was happy. Now his life felt far from happy. He felt as though he lost all hope. At the rate things were currently going, he wondered if he made the wrong choice and should've lived with Hayner or another one of his friends.

Roxas sighed and sat up, stretching. His body ached from the bench he slept on. He hasn't had a decent night's sleep in a long time. He looked around to see if anyone was around. No one seemed to be, though what reason could they possibly have? No child would be out at dawn to play on the playground and joggers usually don't pass it when they jog through the park.

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Axel strode through the park, flicking his lighter over and over again as he walked. He needed to clear his mind and staying in his apartment was not the way to go, even if he was living on his own. He was seventeen and his father still called him and harassed him, making him feel like shit. He left when he was sixteen which didn't go so well with his father. Axel didn't understand why his father even cared, considering how busy he was with his job. Though when things didn't go well at work, Axel found out about it. That's what drove him to leave in the first place. His father made his life hell. It did, however, shock him that his father didn't come after him and drag him home. Axel received no support from him either, but Axel didn't care. His father constantly calls him just to cause him hell. He told him how stupid he is, how worthless he is, how he'll never be anything in the world. What the hell did he know? He could change his number all he wanted, but his father still managed to get a hold of it to call him. Sooner or later, he could toss his phone, but he knew he couldn't because of work.

He has been told that he has anger problems. It didn't surprise him either when people said they probably came from his father. He heard what people whispered about him behind his back. Usually it was "like father, like son" only the difference was, Axel had no kids to beat, so he took it out on whoever upset him enough. That caused people to fear him. He didn't look like he could take on someone, considering his appearance, but he really surprised people.

Axel made his way past the playground, kicking pebbles as he went. Having a slightly enraged moment from thinking of his father, he kicked a pebble. Hard.

"Ouch!"

Axel stopped walking and looked around to see where the sound had come from. And then he saw him. A blonde boy sitting on a bench, rubbing his head where the pebble obviously hit. He studied the blonde. His blonde spiky hair was long, brushing over his brilliant blue eyes. He wore what looked like dirty blue jeans, well worn black converse, and a somewhat dirty white t-shirt with black sleeves. Axel raised an eyebrow. Generally he didn't care when he accidentally (or purposely) hurt someone, but this boy was somehow different. He felt the need to apologize. Was he feeling pity?

"Hey," Axel said to the blonde. Whatever it was, he couldn't ignore or drop it now. He had already spoken to the blonde and got his attention, since he was now looking up at him. "Sorry for nailing you in the head with that pebble," he continued.

The blonde removed his hand from his head and looked at it. A little bit of blood was on his fingertips. Axel was slightly surprised. He didn't know he had kicked it _that _hard. And realizing that the boy was bleeding, he _did _feel sorry for hurting him.

"It's fine. It'll stop soon enough," the blonde replied to him, unconsciously dabbing at the small wound with his fingers.

"So um...why are you here and not at home this early kid?" Axel said, trying to make conversation. This was the strangest thing ever. He didn't want to be rude and walk off and he was slightly interested in why the kid wasn't home. What kind of pity was this?

The blonde sighed. What was the point of lying? He didn't know this guy and he couldn't make a good enough story anyway. "I have no home. It was lost to a fire, along with my parents and possessions."

Axel folded his arms. Why didn't this kid have a job and an apartment then? "How old are you kid?"

"Fifteen. I've learned it's not easy to get a job when you're still technically 'under age'," the blonde replied.

"Well that explains a lot. Sorry to hear that kid. My name's Axel by the way," Axel said, extending out his hand to shake the blonde's.

"I'm Roxas," Roxas said, taking Axel's hand and shaking it firmly. Roxas also removed his other hand to check the bleeding. It still hadn't stopped.

Axel sighed. He really did feel bad now. He didn't understand why, but he did. He felt like he had to make it up to him somehow, since he had made Roxas's new day already a bad one. He felt he should make up for it.

"Hey listen, Roxas. If you need a place to stay, you're welcome to stay with me. I won't charge you rent, but I do expect you to supply yourself with your needs. I'm not stepping in to be your father or anything. We could be...roommates," Axel said slowly. It was the least he could do. It wasn't a bad deal either. He wasn't charging him rent or anything. Living pretty much for free, though Roxas would have to pay for his own needs.

It was Roxas's turn to raise an eyebrow now. A roof being offered to him by a stranger? Should he accept? Sure he didn't like being on the streets, but did he want to live with a total stranger?

"C'mon kid I don't have all day. It's a yes or no answer," Axel said in a slightly annoyed tone.

Roxas sighed. Who knew when he'd be able to get on his feet, but at least if he accepted the offer he would get a roof over his head. It didn't seem like Axel was going to hurt him either, though he did seem to have an attitude. He got to his feet and accepted Axel's offer.

Axel nodded. "Alright. Follow me."

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The elevator doors opened, hitting the top fourth floor. The two boys stepped out, the blonde after the red head. Axel lead him past a few doors, coming to the end of the balcony containing the front door to various apartments. He was in the last one. Roxas saw Axel's name put above the speaker by his door but no last name. He wondered about this but didn't give it too much thought.

Axel stuck his key in the door and pushed the door open, leading Roxas into a dark, air conditioned apartment. He shut the door behind him and Axel flicked a near by light switch, revealing most of the apartment to him. The living room contained a black couch with a glass coffee table in front of it. A remote and some magazines sat on top of it. In the corner was a lap and closer to him, near the couch, was a matching black chair. At the other end of the living room, across from the couch, hung a nice sized flat screen TV. Surprisingly a plant sat next to it, but it looked as though it was wilting. Across from where he was standing was a sliding glass door that lead out onto Axel's balcony that was partly covered by hanging white blinds. The kitchen was small but had everything it needed.

"This is the bathroom," Axel said as he went to the door across from the kitchen. "One of the bathrooms," he continued opening the door to show Roxas. It had a sink, a toilet, and shower inside. "The other bathroom is in my room," he finished, pointing down the hall that was not too far from where the plant was sitting next to the TV. Roxas looked down it but saw that the room was closed. To Roxas, this apartment was nice and ordinary. He was surprised at how tidy it was kept too, but he didn't really think Axel was a pig.

Roxas slowly walked about the apartment, examining everything. He noticed Axel had no pictures, and he actually didn't have too much of anything for decoration either. He wasn't going to complain though. Too much decoration, in his opinion, ruined homes. He sat down on the chair and continued looking around. He turned his attention to the balcony. It wasn't very big and a small white wall surrounded it. He could see that he got a nice view of Twilight Town from it.

Something hit his lap. Roxas looked down and saw a newspaper. He looked up at Axel.

"You might be able to do better looking for a job by looking through the newspaper. I have to go to work myself, so I'll see you in a little bit. You can use my spare key if you decide to leave and look around for a job. Be sure to lock up. And if you do decide to do that, I suggest you shower first. I pulled out some clothes for you to wear as loaners. They're too small for me, and since you're not _that _short, I imagine they should fit you," Axel said as he handed Roxas a small silver key, along with clothes and headed for the front door. Roxas heard the front door open and then close. Axel had gone.

Roxas sat in the silent apartment. He sighed after a moment, both a good and bad sigh. A good sigh that he now had a roof over his head, and a bad sigh because of the fact that he didn't think his life was going to get that much easier. He picked up the newspaper and flipped to the job ads and began looking.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter II

Hot water hit the blonde's face. He closed his eyes and smiled a small smile, sighing at the same time. It had been such a long time since he had taken a hot shower. It felt great. He opened his eyes and looked down. He saw the brown dirt swirl down the drain. The feeling of being dirty was leaving. That made him smile a bigger smile. He grabbed the soap and shampoo and washed up, but didn't hop out of the shower quickly afterward. He wanted to enjoy as much of the hot water as he could.

After what seemed like an eternity in the shower, Roxas turned off the water and stepped out into the steamy bathroom. He decided to get dressed in the bathroom since he had no bedroom.

He examined the clothing Axel had left for him. He left him a pair of checkered boxers that appeared unused, a pair of blue jeans that seemed to have not been worn, a red and black checkered t-shirt, and a black hoodie with white lined sleeves, and a white stripe on either side. He was surprised. They weren't ugly. He pulled on the boxers, they appeared to be a nice fit, followed by the blue jeans. They were tight jeans that at first made Roxas wonder if they were too small for him. Pulling them up around his waist, he noticed that they fit nicely up there, but remained snugged on the rest of his legs. He pulled on the t-shirt and found that was snug as well. Finally he pulled on the black hoodie and zipped it up half way.

He opened the bathroom door to let out the steam and to let the cold air in. Once enough steam was out, he looked in the mirror to check his appearance. He concluded that he didn't look bad. He grabbed the socks off of the floor and headed out of the bathroom and sat on the couch, pulling on the socks and his shoes. He had circled some ads in the paper he wanted to check out. The first place he was going to try was Absolute Distraction. He had been there before a few times and considered it a nice store. He wouldn't mind working there.

Before leaving, the blonde haired boy decided to feed himself, realizing how hungry he actually was. It was a good opportunity to check out the kitchen and see what Axel had in terms of food and drink. He figured a bowl of cereal sounded good so he headed to the fridge to see if there was any milk.

He opened the refrigerator and examined what was inside. There was milk, but there was also Cola, some condiments, water and that was basically it, along with what appeared to be possibly leftovers from dining out at fast food restaurants. Roxas grabbed the milk and shut the refrigerator and began opening cupboards looking for both a bowl and cereal. Once locating a bowl from a top cupboard, he opened one next to the fridge, hoping cereal was around. There were, but only a couple of boxes. Roxas picked one and put together his cereal, grabbed a spoon and sat on the couch in the living room, eating slowly.

As he ate, things began racing in his mind. He accepted a random offer from a stranger to live with, free of rent. As nice as the offer was, it didn't make sense to him why the guy even make him that offer. Sure he nailed him in the head with a pebble and gave him a cut, but it wasn't that bad. It wasn't as if he had shot him. Was it because he felt sorry for him? He didn't seem like the type that would pity the homeless.

His old life quickly took over his thoughts. He missed Hayner, Pence, and Olette. He missed hanging out with them during and after school, eating sea-salt ice cream, and just having a good time. They all offered to take him in, but Roxas politely declined. He wasn't even sure what made him decline. He told himself that he couldn't get used to their life styles. Sometimes he wonders if he hadn't declined, maybe he could still be in school and hanging out with them. He hadn't seen them sense then. Would they still want to hang out with him?

He thought about his parents. His mother was a kind, soft spoken, beautiful lady. She was a nurse at the hospital and loved that job. She always wore a smile on her face, even when things didn't seem to be looking the greatest. She liked to keep a positive attitude no matter what for the most part.

His father was more of the opposite of his mother, at least when it came to speaking. He was a naturally loud man. He too was kind and had a good sense of humor. He laughed at a lot of things and enjoyed laughing. He was well liked and respected. He was an engineer at the Twilight Town train station. Roxas remembered when he was younger, his father would take him on train rides as many times as he wanted throughout Twilight Town. Just him and his father.

Roxas finished his cereal and brought his bowl and spoon to the sink. He then made his way back to the living room and picked up a small piece of paper that contained the jobs he was going to try, folded it, and stuck it in his pocket. He picked up the spare key and headed out of the apartment, locking the door behind him.

He made his way down to the Twilight Town train station so he could get a ride to the shopping district. He bought his ticket and boarded the train, taking a seat as the train began to pull out of the station.

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Roxas made his way to the Absolute Distraction store when he got off the train. He saw a help wanted sign in the window and hoped to get the job. He pulled the door open and stepped inside the dark styled store. (A/N: Absolute Distraction is similar to Hot Topic). He saw a woman with black clothing, brown to dirty blonde hair with red eyes standing behind a cash register. She appeared to be reading a book.

"Excuse me," he began.

The woman looked up from her book and at him. She looked a little intimidating to Roxas, but he needed this job and he wasn't going to back down now.

"I wanted to apply for a job," he continued.

The woman put her book down and bent over and pulled something out from under the counter. He handed him an application and pen and resumed reading her book. Roxas went around to the other side of the counter and began filling out the application.

"How old are you?" the woman asked randomly, not looking up from her book.

"Fifteen, but I'll be sixteen on July eleventh," Roxas replied. That was just a little over a month from now. He hoped she wasn't going to say no because of that.

"So you're under age and looking for a job?" She asked him.

"July is right around the corner. If you could just make an exception..." Roxas said softly. He finished filling out his application and handed it to the woman. She studied it for what felt like ages. Roxas was beginning to feel anxious.

"Alright. Since July is around the corner, and you seem desperate, you can start tomorrow. My name is Paine, I'll be your boss. Be here at ten a.m. and you'll receive your schedule and begin your training."

Roxas beamed.

"I see here you put down full time. Are you sure that's what you want?" Paine asked.

Roxas nodded. "I think for right now since it's only the summer that should be good." He had no real intention on going back to school. Not any time soon at least. Once he lost everything, he decided he wanted to get back on his feet and be able to support himself. Plus living with someone else, he has to supply his own needs.

"Alright. Ten a.m. tomorrow," Paine said to him. Roxas nodded again and Paine went back to reading her book. Roxas smiled and left the store. That was easier than he thought. Maybe things were finally looking up?

He didn't want to go back to his new home just yet, so the blonde decided to hang around the town for awhile.

He browsed some familiar stores and window shopped. He slowly made his way to the Struggle area, where he and his friends Struggled and competed against Seifer and his gang.

He looked at the Struggle lot. It was empty. That surprised him since it was summer time. He was expecting Hayner, Pence, Olette or Seifer's gang to be here. He saw a Struggle bat laying on the ground at the far side of the lot. He made his way over to it and picked it up. He held it in his hands, looking down at it, remembering the Struggle matches he had.

"Hey! What do you know! It's Roxas!" came a familiar voice. The voice had startled him, causing him to jump a little. He turned his head a little and saw that Hayner was standing at the other end of the lot along with Pence and Olette. They were all smiling and waving at him. The blonde couldn't help but smile back and he began to head over to them as they made their way to him.

"How's it going? Are you still living out on the..." Hayner wasn't able to finish his sentence.

Roxas understood what he was asking and shook his head. "I'm um...living with...an old friend of mine in an apartment. I had run into him and he gave me a place to stay."

"So you pick some guy over u-"

"We're just glad you have a place to stay. Even if it isn't with one of us. _Right _Hayner?" Olette said to him.

Hayner nodded.

Pence took out some sea-salt ice cream and handed them each one. Roxas smiled and thanked his friend. He hadn't had one in so long, and it sounded very good right now.

"So, how's it going for you guys?" Roxas asked, bringing his ice cream up to his lips every few seconds.

"Eh you know. Same old same old. We planned on going to the beach today, but then Seifer and his losers decided they wanted to have a Struggle match, so we're waiting for him here. To our surprise, we found you here instead of them," Hayner replied.

"Seifer and his _who?" _a hand was placed on Hayner's shoulder, startling him. Seifer and his friends had arrived. "Well well well. Looks like their fourth member lives after all. How's life been on the streets?"

Roxas blushed and Hayner glared at Seifer. "Leave him alone," Hayner commanded.

Seifer laughed and pointed his Struggle bat at Hayner. "Why don't you come over here and make me?"

Hayner gripped his Struggle bat and charged for Seifer. Their match had begun. Roxas hadn't seen a match in awhile and figured this was going to be a good match since Hayner was pretty good at it. He watched the two boys go at it. At times it seemed like the other had the upper hand, but Hayner appeared to be winning. They just continued to wail on each other. With one good blow, Hayner had Seifer down, winning the match.

"Think again before you decide to act like a total jackass," Hayner said, pointing down at Seifer with his Struggle bat.

Seifer was joined by his friends as he rose to his feet, along with Hayner and his friends. Seifer spat in Hayner's direction before walking off.

"Rematch, tomorrow," Fuu said before turning with her friends and leaving.

"Well that was short. But good," Roxas said to his friend with a smile.

Hayner smiled back at his friend. "No one messes with Rox."

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Axel looked at the clock. It was almost the end of his shift and it seemed to be a slow day. He turned to his parter, Demyx, who was standing in front of the cash register, pretending to be playing guitar. When Axel had asked him about that, Demyx replied that he was practicing.

"Hey, I'm gonna take off okay?" Axel said to Demyx.

Demyx stopped pretending to play guitar and looked at Axel. He nodded. "Going home to the new roomie? I think that was totally nice of you Ax, to offer him a home like that."

Axel rolled his eyes. "Whatever. I felt sorry for him. And he doesn't seem like a bad kid."

"It's just not like you to show kindness to people. I'm your friend and you barely show it to me. I mean you beat up random kids when they piss you off enough..." Demyx replied.

"Just a little lesson I guess they have to learn the hard way," Axel said as he untied his apron and took it off. He folded it over his arm. He grabbed a couple "to go" boxes containing food and gave a small wave to Demyx. "See you tomorrow."

"Later Axel," Demyx called as Axel headed out of the restaurant. Axel glanced down at his watch. It was 4:47 PM. It had been a long day. Going in at nine, getting off at five. Sure it was a little early, but it was nearly five. He hoped that Roxas kid would like what was for dinner. It was what Axel whipped up at work; teriyaki chicken, noodles, rice, veggies, etc.

Axel hopped on the train to the Residential District and was one of the first people off of the train after pushing past people. It was a five minute walk to his apartment from the train station, but he didn't feel like waiting on others to take their time and climb off.

He made it back to his apartment and placed the food on the counter. He saw Roxas sitting on the couch over the bar in his kitchen.

"Hey. I brought food if you're hungry," Axel said to the blonde. Roxas smiled and headed into the kitchen. Axel handed him a container of food and Roxas thanked him.

"So how'd it go today? Did you find a job?" Axel asked, breaking the silence between the two.

Roxas nodded. "I got a job at Absolute Distraction. I start tomorrow at ten."

"That's cool. I figured the paper would help," Axel replied.

The blonde nodded again. "Thanks again for that."

The phone began to ring. Roxas was about to reach for it but Axel stopped him. "Just leave it," he said.

The two listened to the phone ring and ring until the answering machine picked up.

_"Not in, leave a message." _came Axel's voice. Another voice followed.

"Axel, what do you think you're doing ignoring your father's phone calls? Don't think I don't know you're at that stupid apartment, you damn little bastard. When do you plan on coming home? I'm sure you haven't made much of yourself this past year and you're struggling to survive. That's all you're ever going to do. Struggle. If you were smart, you'd think you'd get your ass ho-"

Axel picked up the phone and slammed it back down on the reciever. His hand was shaking. The insults didn't bother Axel so much anymore, but just hearing his father's voice was enough to upset him.

Roxas stared at the phone for a moment and then turned to Axel. "Who was that?"

"My father."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter III

"I wouldn't really call him my father anymore. I'm not going to," Axel said as he and Roxas sat on the couch.

"Do you want to tell me what that was all about?" Roxas asked.

Axel sighed. "It's not much of a story. My mom died when I was young, my dad is an angry drunk. Everyday he'd come home and drink. If something didn't go right at work, he'd come home, drink, and then beat me. Sometimes he'd beat me to the point where I'd black out. People of course know. They like to say 'like father, like son' when it comes to anger. When I was sixteen and had enough, I left. I was old enough to get a job and support myself. So I did. I managed to get a job at a restaurant and that's that."

Roxas frowned. He thought his currant situation was bad? Axel had suffered abuse all of his life. It was no wonder he was unfriendly.

"Though of course, this lead to things. I've had enough run ins with the cops. I've been arrested once. I've just been stupid, beating the crap out of whoever upset me. Generally people just flat out avoid me because they fear me. My only friend is my friend Demyx, down at the restaurant," Axel continued.

"And me," the blonde added.

Axel looked down at the blonde. He was wearing a small smile on his face. He looked cute. Very cute. Those big, brilliant, blue eyes, blonde spiky hair...that outfit. Axel blushed slightly at the thought. These thoughts running through his head about this boy made him wonder if he possibly had a crush on him. He hadn't known him for very long, just a few hours. He seemed nice and sweet, and he looked adorable.

Axel smiled a small smile back. "And you," he agreed. Before he knew it, the blonde had thrown his arms around the red head. The blonde had him in a tight enough hug. He began to blush and felt his heart suddenly speed up.

After a little bit of hesitation, Axel hugged Roxas back, causing Roxas to blush as well. When the two pulled away, they realized the other noticed they were blushing and blushed harder.

"What about you?" Axel asked quietly. "What was your life like?"

Roxas stared off thinking. "I was an only child and my parents were still married. My mom was a kind, soft spoken lady that seemed to always have a positive attitude. Dad would say because that was her job description because she was a nurse up at the hospital. When it came to speaking, my dad was the opposite. He was a loud person who loved to laugh. He was an engineer for the train station. He used to take me for rides all the time when I was younger. Usually just me and him. You could say that I had the perfect life with my parents, but I believe we were far from perfect," he said.

The red head thought about this. It sounded nice. It sounded like he had nice parents and raised him as a nice, sweet kid. In a way he envied the blonde. He wished his father was nicer to him and that his mother was still alive.

"Then you had my three best friends: Hayner, Pence, and Olette. I saw them today actually, after not seeing them for about a week or two. We hung out all day, just like the good old days, after the Struggle match between Hayner and Seifer. We spent most of the day at the beach. Anyway, they're great people. Some of the greatest you'll ever meet. They always had your back, even when we fought," Roxas continued.

Axel shook his head slightly. He wouldn't know what the blonde was talking about. He didn't trust anyone, and no one trusted him. Everyone was too afraid to even try to be his friend. Except Demyx, but that was because he had known Axel almost all of his life. True, Axel is to blame for this, but if you went further back, maybe it wasn't entirely Axel's fault.

"I wouldn't really know what you're talking about unfortunately," Axel said to the blonde.

"You and Demyx haven't always been there for each other?" Roxas asked.

Axel shrugged. "I'm not really for sure. Demyx's parents wanted him to stay away from my house most of the time so he wouldn't have to encounter my father."

Roxas frowned again. He felt bad for Axel, even though he didn't know every detail of it. Without even realizing it, the younger boy's hand unconsciously moved on top of Axel's. The two looked down, blushing, and then up at each other. Roxas quickly pulled his hand away and looked away.

Axel stood up. "Um...I'm just...I'm going to go to bed...it's been...a long day," he said. The truth was, he didn't know if he could stay out with this boy anymore right now. His heart was racing and his hand was tingling. It was such a crazy feeling.

Roxas nodded. "Good night Axel. It was nice talking to you," he said, still not lifting his head to meet Axel's eyes.

"Um...there's a blanket and a few pillows in the closet down the hallway. You can use them to sleep with," Axel told him. He turned and headed down the hallway, headed into his room and shut the door behind him.

Roxas sighed. He couldn't believe what had just happened. It was so easy for him to open up to Axel and it appeared easy for Axel to open up to him in return. What did that mean?

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Roxas pulled open the door to Absolute Distraction. The thoughts of what happened between him and Axel last night occupied his mind. Thinking of Axel gave him a feeling he had never felt before.

Paine was standing behind the counter, along with a blonde haired girl that had a hairstyle that looked like she had two antennas coming out of her head.

"Hey Roxas," Paine greeted.

"Hey," Roxas greeted in return.

"This will be one of your co-workers, Larxene. You will either be working with her, myself, or your other co-worker, Zexion. She will be training you today," Paine said as she let Roxas back behind the counter. She handed Roxas a name tag and he pinned it on his shirt.

"This will be your work schedule," Paine said handing Roxas a piece of paper. He had Thursdays and Fridays off. He could live with that.

"Hey Roxy. Are you ready?" Larxene said with a smile. Roxas hated being called Roxy, but he figured he would let it slide for now. He only made exceptions for a few people. He nodded in response to Larxene's question.

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"Dem, can I talk to you?" Axel said quietly to Demyx. Since it was nearing lunch time, business was beginning to pick up. Generally it was very busy around lunch and dinner since the restaurant was quite popular. They were working side by side currently, cooking up food for customers.

"Sure Ax. What's up?" Demyx asked, not taking his eyes off the food he was making so it didn't look like the two were talking.

"Something strange happened between me and that kid last night," Axel said quietly. Demyx almost missed what the red head had said.

"What do you mean?" Demyx asked.

"Last night, my father called and that kid heard how he was talking to me. Then he wanted to know what that was all about and it was just...so easy to open up to him...and he hugged me and this weird sensation happened and --"

"Sounds like you have a crush on him," Demyx said with a smile.

Axel blushed slightly. Him? A crush? "You think that's it? But we hardly know each other," Axel replied.

Demyx shrugged. "So? It happens. The question is, do you want to act on it?"

"I-I don't know. I didn't think it would be a crush. I don't crush on anyone, you know that Dem," Axel said, sighing.

Demyx smiled and patted his friend on the shoulder. He knew Axel wasn't a bad guy deep down and he was guessing that Roxas knew that too. "Think on it. Think about how you feel and if you possibly want to be with him."

Axel shrugged. "He grabbed my hand last night, causing my heart to pound and my hand to tingle. I didn't think I could totally handle it, so I headed off to my bedroom."

"Aw. Axel has a crush. How cute," Demyx said mockingly.

This made Axel blush again. "Sh-shut up Demyx," he said as he placed the food he cooked on a plate and set it on the counter to be picked up. He punched Demyx in the arm.

"Ouch. Dude come on, I'm only kidding around with you. I think it's great Axel. I think he may like you too," Demyx said as he rubbed his arm and put the food he prepared on a plate and set it on the counter.

"Why? Demyx who could _possibly _like me? And why?" Axel asked.

Demyx shrugged again. "Apparently this kid. Turn it into something. You never know."

x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Roxas was staring off into space, still thinking about last night's events when the door to Absolute Distraction opened and Hayner walked inside. He smiled. Maybe now he could finally talk about what happened and figure things out. "I'm going on break," he told Larxene, coming out from behind the counter and meeting up with Hayner.

"Hey," Hayner said to his friend as he saw his friend coming to him. Roxas took him by the arm and turned him around and guided him out the door.

"Can I talk to you?" Roxas asked when they were both outside.

"Um sure. Of course. What's up Rox?" Hayner said, folding his arms.

"You know how I told you I'm living with a friend of mine now?" Roxas began.

Hayner nodded.

"Well his name is Axel and something happened last night?" Roxas continued.

Hayner's eyes widened. "What happened? Did he hurt you or something?"

"No no. Nothing like that. We just...got to talking. We didn't talk for long, but it felt easy to talk to him. Like if I wanted to open up completely to him, I could do it. He told me a little about his life and it didn't sound so great. So I hugged him. I felt myself blush and when we pulled away I noticed we both were blushing. And then, my hand unconsciously went to his and it sent me this tingly, warm feeling and it --"

"It just sounds like you have a crush on him," Hayner told him.

That caused Roxas to blush. "Y-you think?"

"Sure. That's how it sounds at least. How did he act other than blushing?" Hayner asked.

"Well...after my hand found his...he got up and went to his room for the rest of the night. He said he was tired," Roxas answered.

Hayner smiled. "It sounds like he has a crush on you too Rox."

Roxas couldn't help but smile at that. "You think so?"

Hayner laughed. "Yeah. And I think it's great man."

Roxas's smile grew bigger.

"If anything happens, just go with it, you know? See what happens. It could turn into something," Hayner added.

Roxas nodded. "Thanks Hayner. You're the best," he said as he clasped hands with his friend for a moment.

"Anytime Rox," Hayner said with a smile.

"I guess I should go back inside. I'm sure my break is almost over," Roxas said when they let go of each other's hands.

Hayner nodded and followed Roxas inside the store so he could shop, like he originally intended to do.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter IV

Axel sat on his couch, contemplating what Demyx had said to him at work today. It didn't make sense to him. Roxas could have a crush on him? He could have a crush on Roxas? He just met the kid yesterday. How could something like that happen so fast? And how could anyone, let alone someone like Roxas, love _him?_

His past wasn't a great one. Always being beaten and verbally abused by his father, having run ins with the cops, beating up people...who could love such a...horrible person? Just the other day he beat someone up for crying out loud!

The red head gritted his teeth at the thoughts that came into his mind.

"_You're worthless. You'll never become anything. You'll just be a useless ass to the world." _The words of his father echoed into his mind.

"_No one could possibly love an ass like yourself. You'll just be alone, forever." _

Axel shook his head, his eyes closed tightly. He remembered how his father beat him when things weren't going well at work. He would be thrown against the wall, thrown against the floor. Slapped, kicked, punched, scratched, hair pulled, and anything else his father could come up with to take his anger out on his son.

He remembered the cops hand cuffing him at two in the morning when he had stolen a bottle of alcohol and beat up the person that tried to stop him. He ended up putting that guy in the hospital that morning.

He remembered beating up various teenagers that upset him too much. Big ones, small ones, older ones, younger ones. What a monster.

The red head sighed and shook his head once more.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Roxas pushed the apartment door open and walked inside. No lights were on, so he assumed that Axel was not home yet. He shut the door behind him and made his way into the living room.

The blonde heard a quiet sound. He raised an eyebrow, wondering what it could be. He listened again and turned in the direction it was coming from. It sounded like it was coming from the couch. He headed towards it and realized that there was an outline of someone sitting on it. He reached a hand out to see who it was.

"Axel?" Roxas said softly.

The red head lifted his head up and looked at the younger boy. By the light of the setting sun that was coming through the blinds hanging from Axel's sliding glass door, Roxas saw that Axel was crying.

Roxas sat down beside Axel and turned to face him. "What's wrong Axel...?"

Axel shook his head, wiping his eyes. He felt embarrassed that Roxas had seen him like this. He turned his head away and looked down, doing his best to keep any more tears from falling.

"You can tell me..." Roxas said gently. His hand unconsciously moved to Axel's again. This time, when both were aware of where their hands were, neither moved them.

"Roxas..." Axel began. "How...could anyone possibly like a horrible person like me? I've been beat, called horrible names, told horrible names, beat up others, had run ins with the cops, been arrested..."

"So? What you did might not have been the smartest thing you've done, in the terms of you beating up others and having run ins with the cops, but if you go deeper than that, you can see that it's reflected on what your father had done," Roxas said, stroking Axel's hand with his thumb, trying his best to comfort him.

"Roxas...I've been thrown around like a useless pillow. I've thrown others around like they were useless pillows. I've stolen alcohol, just to drink. Just to be numb, even if it was just for a little while. I was becoming my father. How could anyone love someone like _that?_" Axel said to him quietly and slowly. He couldn't stop the tears from falling.

"Well I like you. So does Demyx. I don't think you're a horrible person at all. Sure you've had issues in the past, but you're showing signs of change, ever since you took me in off the streets and gave me a roof and a bed, along with food," Roxas replied.

"I don't think that makes up for all the bad and wrong I've done..." Axel sighed, shuddering slightly from crying.

"Oh Axel...you shouldn't be so hard on yourself. It's okay. Plus it's over and done with now," the blonde said as he scooted somewhat closer to Axel. He had no idea what he was doing. By the time he had done the things he had already started, like taking Axel's hand, stroking it, moving closer to him, it was too late to stop himself. He was also afraid he was going to scare Axel off. His heart was pounding, he felt as though his heart was going to burst out of his chest at any moment.

"Roxas, it's just not that simple..." Axel said as he shook his head.

"I know it's not that simple, I understand. I think though, you should try. I know you can do it. I can help you out, and I'm sure Demyx will help too," the younger boy said, trying to look Axel in the eyes.

Axel sighed. Roxas slowly raised his hand and placed it under Axel's chin. He lifted his head so he could look him in the eyes. He saw that he was still crying and that seemed to break his heart. He took both hands and wiped away the red head's tears gently with his thumbs.

He held Axel's face in his hands and stared into his eyes, studying them. He saw anger, hate, fear, along with mainly sadness in his eyes. Roxas shook his head. "You're not a horrible person Axel. You've just had a rough past..."

The younger boy was moving in slowly, his eyes closing during the process. He definitely didn't know what he was doing now. He hoped he wasn't about to scare Axel away permanently, or get himself kicked out of his apartment. He couldn't stop now. He had to keep going.

He pressed his lips gently into the older boy's lips. A tingling sensation ran throughout his body, along with a warm sensation. The red head's lips were soft and warm. He saw what he had heard about behind his eyes; fireworks. What was the most amazing to him though, was the fact that Axel hadn't pulled away. He was kissing him back, attempting to deepen the kiss. He could feel Axel's tongue brush against his bottom lip, asking for entrance. Without too much thought, Roxas allowed him in.

After a passionate moment between the two, the two pulled away slowly and looked into each other's eyes. They were both blushing but smiling. They leaned in and kissed once more, only this time it was shorter than the last and it ended with a hug.

"I hope I was able to make you feel better," Roxas whispered during the hug.

"You did. Thank you...Roxy..." Axel whispered back. Axel liked the name 'Roxy' as a nickname for Roxas. He hoped he didn't mind being called that. Of course, Roxas didn't. Axel was one of the few exceptions he let get away with call him 'Roxy'.

The blonde smiled at what the red head had said. The two pulled away and Axel kissed Roxas's nose. "So um...

do you think we should try this out? The relationship thing I mean..." Axel asked slowly.

Roxas smiled and nodded. "I think we should. It sounds like a good idea."

Axel smiled back at him and hugged Roxas again.

"What a crazy couple of days. One minute, we're total strangers, the next, we're in a relationship," Roxas said with a slight chuckle.

Axel chuckled too. "It has been indeed a crazy couple of days. Who would've thought that this was going to happen?"

The blonde shook his head. "Not me. It seems like things are finally looking up though."

Axel pulled his head off of Roxas's shoulder, still embracing him, and smiled at Roxas before kissing him again.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter V

Sunlight snuck through the blinds covering Axel's sliding glass door leading out onto his small balcony. The light hit Axel in the face, causing him to wake up. He blinked a few times, remembering what happened last night and why he wasn't asleep in his bedroom. His head was on Roxas's shoulder and his arms were around him. He was partially on top of Roxas with his feet on the couch next to the younger boy's. He moved his arms gently and lifted his head, hoping not to wake Roxas.

He stretched and yawned, blinking a few more times. He placed his hands on his knees and bent his head, still taking in everything that happened and what he should do now. Today was his day off and he wanted to do something special for Roxas. He wanted to give him a special day, starting from the morning all the way until they fell asleep again. He didn't want Roxas to go into work today, even though it was going to be his second day. He had to think of a plan...

Axel stood up and lazily made his way into the kitchen. He figured the first thing he could do for Roxas was cook him a nice breakfast. He opened a lower cabinet and pulled out his skillet and set it on the stove as he lit it. He then made his way to his pantry and pulled out some pancake mix from the back. Setting that on the counter, Axel made his way to the refrigerator and pulled out strawberries and set them down next to the box of pancake mix. He pulled out a large bowl and grabbed the ingredients for the pancakes and made the batter. When he poured the batter onto the skillet, he pulled out another bowl and put the strawberries in and pulled out his mixer.

He was sure from all the noise he was making, plus the smell, Roxas was going to wake up. He didn't want to disturb him, but he had no other way to finish the breakfast. Sure enough, Roxas was awake.

Roxas wondered over to the counter and watched Axel cook. When the older boy noticed this, he instructed Roxas to go back to the couch and wait for him to finish. Without arguing, the blonde did as he was told and sat down on the couch and waited, rubbing his eyes and stretching, attempting to wake up. Axel caught sight of it and thought it was a cute sight.

When the red head finished, he brought a plate over to Roxas of three pancakes stacked on top of each other with strawberry sauce covering them, along with whipped cream topped on the first pancake with a smaller strawberry on top. He was hoping Roxas liked strawberries and he wasn't going overboard.

Roxas smiled and accepted the plate. "Thanks Axel. It looks delicious."

Axel smiled as he watched Roxas pick up his fork and knife and cut off a piece and stick it into his mouth. To his delight, Roxas's smile grew bigger.

"Yum! You're an amazing chef!" Roxas complimented, causing Axel to blush slightly.

Suddenly remembering that he had forgotten to give Roxas a drink, Axel headed back into the kitchen and pulled out a glass, filling it up with orange juice.

Roxas smiled again and took a drink after he finished his mouthful of his breakfast. He set the glass down and looked up at Axel. "This is really nice of you, but what's the occasion?"

The older boy shrugged. "Just my way of saying thanks for last night. Plus, why not? Only my problem is, I want to give you an amazing day, not just morning. When's your day off?"

"Well it's supposed to be Thursdays and Fridays but I don't think that--"

"Perfect! Those are my days off! And it's Thursday, so they can't yell at you for taking today off!" Axel said with a smile.

Roxas shook his head. "I don't think it starts yet because today would only be my second day."

"We'll worry about that Saturday," Axel said as he waved his hand.

Roxas sighed but smiled. It seemed that Axel really wanted him to miss work today to spend time with him. It made him happy to think about that, and it even felt like he was getting butterflies in his stomach. Was he nervous because Axel wanted to have an all day date with him? The thought made him blush slightly and he hoped Axel didn't notice.

"Hey I know the perfect thing! We can go to the beach today!" Axel said beaming.

"I don't have any trunks..." Roxas said with a frown.

"Aw Roxy. You forget that I have some. More than one pair. I'm sure I have some that'll fit you," Axel said. He motioned for Roxas to come to him and he did so.

Axel led Roxas down the hallway into his bedroom. Roxas looked around. This was his first time in there. He saw a queen sized bed with a dark blue blanket on top with what appeared to be a match blue sheet from the spot on the bed that was unmade. There was a TV stand with a TV on top in front of the bed. A nightstand was to the left of his bed with a clock and lamp on top with a few other things on top. To the left of the TV stand appeared to be the door to the bathroom and to the left of Axel's nightstand seemed to lead into the closet.

Axel opened a dresser that was in his small walk in closet and pulled out his swimming trunks and dug around for another pair.

"Aha," Axel murmured. He turned around and handed Roxas a pair of white swim trunks. "You can change into those in my bathroom," he said to him.

Roxas nodded and headed to Axel's bathroom and shut the door behind him. He stripped out of his clothes and pulled on the swim trunks. They seemed to fit, stopping at the knee. He pulled open the bathroom door and saw Axel in black swim trunks with flames on them along with an orange tank top. The two blushed at the sight of each other.

"Here," Axel said handing Roxas a blue tank top. Roxas pulled it on and Axel handed him a towel and sandals. Roxas took them both and followed Axel out of the apartment.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Roxas inhaled the ocean air and listened to the seagulls call out to one another. He stood at the shoreline of the ocean with the waves washing over his feet. His shirt was left back at the towels he and Axel left further away from the water.

Axel appeared by Roxas's side and handed him a sea salt ice cream bar and took his hand and laced their fingers together. The blonde smiled up at the older boy. Noticing that Roxas was smiling at him from the corner of his eye, the red head smiled back at him.

Roxas turned his attention back to the water. Looking out at the ocean, he saw occasional people swimming, wave riding, and boogie boarding. A smile appeared on his face. Wave riding sounded like fun. Roxas turned his head and looked at Axel.

"Wanna go wave riding? It sounds like a lot of fun," Roxas said with a smile.

The older boy looked down at Roxas and then out at the ocean where people were wave riding. He had to admit, it _did _look like fun. He reached into his pocket to see if he had enough money to rent waverunners. It appeared he did so he nodded. "That sounds like fun. We can go rent some."

The two walked hand in hand over to the place where they could rent waverunners. Axel paid for two for a couple of hours. Axel climbed on the red one while Roxas climbed on the blue one.

"Do you know how to ride one of these?" Axel asked.

Roxas nodded and turned his on. "How about a race?"

Axel smiled, turning his on as well. "Sure. Loser has to kiss the winner."

Roxas smiled back. "Sounds fair. Where do we race to?"

The red head searched the water for something and then smiled. "That boat right over there," he said, pointing in the distance to the only boat out there.

Roxas nodded. "Three...two...one...GO!"

The two boys hit the gas, picking up speed. Neither seemed to want to lose. They were neck and neck with each other, gaining speed still, flying past other people in the water, spraying them. They arrived at their finish line at the same time.

"It's a tie," Roxas said with a smile.

"Yep," Axel replied and leaned in and kissed Roxas.

"Hey Axel, who's your friend?"

The two broke away and turned to see who had spoken to Axel. It was Demyx, standing on the boat, looking at them.

"Hey Dem. It's Roxas you nut," Axel replied, pulling himself to the boat and hopping on the ladder. He turned to Roxas. "This is Demyx. He's my friend down at the restaurant. And of course, this is his boat."

"Hey," Demyx said with a smile and waving at Roxas. Roxas returned a small wave.

After Axel climbed on board, Roxas pulled himself closer to the boat and climbed up the ladder himself to join the two.

"What do you know, Zexion is here too," Axel said, taking a seat across from a lilac haired boy that covered one of his eyes.

"Zexion?" Roxas repeated.

Axel nodded. "Of course. He and Demyx have been going out for like half a year now, so they're pretty much always together."

"Oh. Cool. Congrats you guys," Roxas said with a smile. He sat down next Axel and Demyx sat next to Zexion.

"So, what brings you guys to our boat?" Demyx asked as he put an arm around Zexion's shoulders.

"I spotted you from a distance and wanted to say hi. What brings you guys to the ocean?" Axel replied.

"We just decided to come out today. The weather seemed nice. We wanted to get out of Twilight and spend some time together at sea," Demyx said with a smile.

"Sounds like fun. We wanted to come out and spend some time together too, so we won't be here long," Axel said, squeezing Roxas's hand gently.

"Stay as long as you'd like," Demyx said with a smile.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Roxas and Axel sat at the shoreline, holding hands, and watching the rest of the sunset. Today had been a fun day for both of them. Riding the waverunners, walking the boardwalk, hanging out with Demyx and Zexion on their boat, eating sea salt ice cream, having a romantic lunch...

Though the day wasn't over yet. As they were leaving Demyx and Zexion, Demyx had promised to meet up with them at nightfall to shoot off fireworks. It was only a matter of time until they showed up.

"This has been an amazing day," Roxas said with a smile.

"It has. And it's not even over yet," Axel replied, turning his head and smiling at Roxas.

They continued to smile and gaze into each other's eyes and began to lean in to kiss...

"Ready guys?" came an excited voice that belonged to Demyx.

Roxas turned his head and saw Demyx and Zexion, hand in hand, holding fireworks headed their way.

The red head signed an annoyed sigh. "Perfect timing guys..." he muttered.

The two teens rose to their feet as Demyx and Zexion came closer to them. Axel took a few rockets from Demyx and began helping him set them up. Roxas watched as Axel did so and smiled. He saw a big smile on the older boy's face and his eyes seemed filled with excitement.

"He's a pyromaniac so he's going to be excited over something like this," Zexion said to Roxas, as if he was reading his mind.

"I figured. Do you guys do this often?" Roxas asked, turning his attention back to Axel. Axel sensed he was being watched and turned to face Roxas and gave him a quick, big smile.

"Usually whenever we're all down here at the beach, yeah. It's fun," Zexion replied.

When Axel and Demyx were finished setting up, Axel ran up to the two boys and handed them two long sticks that were lit. "Hurry!"

Zexion and Roxas quickly followed Axel and joined him in lighting the fireworks with the firework punks they were given. After they lit them, they all quickly ran the opposite direction of the rockets, stumbling as they went.

Roxas turned his head to watch the rockets go off as he ran. There were multiple loud bangs along with multiple colors lighting up the sky. Caught up in the sight, Roxas didn't realize that he was running straight into Axel.  
The two tripped and fell over each other, Roxas landing on top of Axel. The two blushed, laughed, and then shared a kiss.


End file.
